Mardi Gras Season Kicks Off With Cakes, Street Car Rides

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Mardi Gras season is kicking off in New Orleans.

The holiday season begins on Epiphany, commemorating the day when the three wise men reached the baby Jesus. Fat Tuesday, which marks the culmination of Mardi Gras season, falls on Feb. 28.

Across the city people are eating king cake, a traditional holiday bakery treat.

People bring the cakes to their offices or home to share with family.

In the evening, the Phunny Phorty Phellows, a historic Mardi Gras krewe, will mark the season with a ride on a street car that goes along a traditional parade route.

For the first time, another group calling itself the "Not so Secret Society of the Elysian Fields" will be riding another street car line to also commemorate the season.

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